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Topic: Look out, I'm comin' over! (Read 2175 times)

Hello. This is my first post, and I thought I'd start off by letting you all know that I've decided to leave the Roman Catholic Church and come over to the Orthodox. I'd like to know, for any of you that have done the same or know someone that has, what to expect as I make this transition? What is the usual procedure/length of time to convert? Throw anything else in there that might be of interest to me, such as book recommendations, etc. Thanks!

It will depend. The first thing to do is to start attending an Orthodox Church and to speak with the priest. They will advise you on what they want you to do to begin seeking conversion.

That's exactly what I did today. I talked to the priest, and he said he'd like to see me come to Church for a month or so and then we'll start the official classes, I presume. In the meantime, another convert (some 40 years ago) volunteered to help me study in the meantime.

Hello.ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€š This is my first post, and I thought I'd start off by letting you all know that I've decided to leave the Roman Catholic Church and come over to the Orthodox.ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€š I'd like to know, for any of you that have done the same or know someone that has, what to expect as I make this transition?ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€š What is the usual procedure/length of time to convert?ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€š Throw anything else in there that might be of interest to me, such as book recommendations, etc.ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€š ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€š ;DÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€š Thanks!

Mike

Dear Mike,

Prior to me becoming and continue to become Orthodox (it is a life long process) I was Roman Catholic for some 50+ years. Roman Catholicism was well rooted in my being and I was content until the changes brought about by VAT II whether intended or not. The Mass for me changed dramatically. It was reduced to a matter of form and to me it was minimalized to the point that I just lost interest in it. My search for the true faith involved investigating Protestant religions especially the Evangelicals. I have to admit their draw is formadible but there was this ancient belief in me that kept me from falling away from catholicity. Then one day I was surfing the web and came across Orthodoxy. Well that was all she wrote, I was totally taken by this faith and it was Catholic to boot. I started reading all kinds of books on Orthodoxy and the more I read the hungrier I became and got up the courage to attend a Divine Liturgy in October in 1999. Well I became a catechumen about 6 months afterwards and was Chrismated on the Saturday before Orthodox Sunday in 2000. I have never looked back. Yes, you will have those moments that ask "Did you do the right thing" and the more I know about this most ancient of Christian religions the more convinced I became of its importance in my life. Orthodoxy was and is the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic church. And she has remained so in spite of Romes separation from us in the 1st millenium. I hold no ill will for my former faith because I consider it a stepping stone to Orthodoxy. I advise you to read up on all you can manage because you will be challenged by well intentioned Roman CAtholics about what you did and why you did it. So, I would be prepared in any case. I hope my experiences have helped you in your decisiion to join Christ's holy church, the church of the Apostles, the church of pentecost.

Mike. Joe S is the man to listen to. My conversion was different and similar to Joe's. I was Catholic, but a large part of my father's family was Orthodox. So, I had an ancient connections, like Joe, from the start. Went down the evangelical path, but it was like searching for water in a land of shallow wells. When I decided to return to Orthodoxy I had the ancient connection as an anchor. Also there is no set procedure. The priest may/will/should seek to tailor your catechumen journey to your needs.

In my prayers

Dan

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Save us o' Son of God, who art risen from the dead, as we sing to thee Alleluia!

I would have to go along with some of the other posters who recommend listening to your Priest. There is lots of information online and in books. Some of it is good for some people, and some of it is bad for some people. Only your Priest can direct you the way you personally need to go. That is his job.

I am a recent convert (from Protestantism) and I am very happy that my first step towards Orthodoxy was to talk to the Priest at my local Church. He recommended particular books to read, and we meet on numerous occasions, one-on-one, to go over issues and answer questions. Think of him as your spiritual physician who knows what is best for your spiritual health.

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A dog is better than I am, for he has love and does not judge.-Abba Xanthias

This may sound a little strange but the reason I converted to Orthodoxy was because of an Evangelical Pastor. I was raised Roman Catholic, went to a RC University, but was never really very well connected to my faith. I always had nagging questions that nobody fully answered. Questions such as, why pray to Saints and The Mother of God, why do we even call her the Mother of God, why hold the Pope as infallible, among many others. Most the time the answer given was because the Church says so.

After I graduated, I met my wife, whose father was an Evangelical Pastor. My Father-in-law is a very kind and generous man. He has helped my wife and me in so many ways and I am very grateful for him. However, being a good Evangelical Christian, he would always throw out questions and comments about how Catholicism had strayed from the truth and how they developed doctrine that was not biblically based. He mentioned how the Immaculate Conception & Papal Infallibility were recent innovations. For the most part, I would just listen and not argue back. This is something based in my cultural heritageÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â¦we don’t argue with our elders, no matter how wrong they may be! In my mind, I would rationalize that anything that seemed not to be biblically based came from the tradition of the ChurchÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â¦ and leave it at that. However, one day, I finally decided that I was going to prove it. I was going to find and read the Church Fathers where, I thought, I would find all the answers to all of my Father-in-Laws questions.

I checked out two books from the local library, Eusebius Church History and The Orthodox Church by Bishop Kallistos Ware. I only intended to read the first part of The Orthodox Church as it had the history of the Church. I knew that the Orthodox and Roman Catholics were related in some way and shared a common history during the first century. To my amazement, I learned my Father-in-Law, to some extent, was correct. Some Roman Catholic doctrine was not based on the bible or Church Tradition! Reading this book made me realize that what I thought was the True Church was not. I recalled seeing an advertisement in the Newspaper that said “The Antiochian Orthodox Church, the Truth since 33AD” at the time I was a little offended by this statement and passed it off as just another Protestant Church claiming something it was not. Obviously, I knew no better at the time.

Since then, I have learned so much about the Christian Church through my priest. The answers to those nagging questions I had were now completely clear to me. Last May, my daughters and son were baptized and my wife and I were brought into the church through Chrismation. We have found a real connection to Christ through his Church and the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. There is not space enough to explain the change in my life.

Thank you all so much for your replies. You have been most helpful and informative. I will try to keep everyone "up to date" with my progress as I remain active on this forum throughout (and after) the whole conversion process. Thanks again!

Congratulations on your choice. All converts have differences in what brought them to Orthodoxy (including myself) but there seems to be one underlying theme: something just isn't right in the western Christian world (Protestantism and Roman Catholicism). For me, I didn't even know what it was until I walked into a Greek Orthodox church one Sunday out of curiousity. I was hooked from the start.

Congratulations on your choice. All converts have differences in what brought them to Orthodoxy (including myself) but there seems to be one underlying theme: something just isn't right in the western Christian world (Protestantism and Roman Catholicism). For me, I didn't even know what it was until I walked into a Greek Orthodox church one Sunday out of curiousity. I was hooked from the start.